Hardware. Hotel. Happiness? A Timeline of Events
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They were going to build a hotel, but now they say they’re building something that the local community could embrace.
Finkles Hardware was in business in Lambertville for over 100 years. The company owned multiple buildings and properties at the west end of Coryell Street: two storefronts, an old theater, an empty lot, and an old warehouse.
Refined Hospitality and its partners purchased the Boat House and the (former) Hamilton Grill Room in August of 2024. They approached Finkles about purchasing their properties, a deal was made, and Finkles closed at the end of 2024. A new group of business people now owns this portion of Lambertville.
The Properties They Own
- Former Finkles warehouse (formerly the Strand Theater)
- Former Finkles lighting store and warehouse
- The Boat House
- Revolution Woodfire Grille (formerly The Pork Yard / Hamilton’s Grill Room)
- Building that houses Lambert and Hope (formerly Blue Raccoon)
- Former Finkles hardware store
- Former Finkles warehouse (by the canal)
Hotel Hearsay
In April, rumors circulated that the new owners had spoken directly with the immediate neighbors and shared a plan to develop a hotel, wedding venue, and parking garage on Coryell Street, but no formal plans had been submitted.
That news, combined with the K. Hovnanian development on Connaught Hill, bolstered local fear that out-of-town developers were coming in and capitalizing on Lambertville’s character to the detriment of local community and culture.
Meet the Developers
On May 8, 2025, Ron Gorodesky of Refined Hospitality and John Connors of Brickstone presented their development plans at the Phillip L. Pittore Justice Center (AKA the ACME) to approximately 200 concerned Lambertville residents.
The rumors were true. They wanted to build a 49-room hotel, a 2-deck parking garage, exclusive spa, and a 125-person wedding venue—all with valet parking.
Residents were not happy and they were very vocal about it. One of the main questions people asked was, “How does this benefit our community?”
John Connors said the hotel would bring people into town who were in “consumer spend mode,” and that the project was “a really big deal from a tax ratable standpoint,” but those answers didn’t quell the community’s concerns.
At the end of the presentation, a neighbor asked Ron Gorodesky about smoke from the Revolution Woodfire Grille, and another advised John Connors not to evoke Jim Hamilton’s name as the driving spirit being the Coryell Hotel project.
The Birth of S.O.U.L.
Kathy Brennan McEntee lives in one of the houses that will be directly impacted by development on Coryell Street. Using her professional background in project management, Kathy invited Jeff Tittel and other local residents to assemble at a community meeting / get together in her home on June 10, 2025.
While gathered around snacks and a Power Point presentation, residents shared concerns about the size of the Coryell Hotel. Everyone united in recognizing that development was going to happen, but nobody wanted the project to be as big as what was being proposed. They named their group “S.O.U.L. ♥ Save Our Unique Lambertville,” and began organizing a grassroots opposition.
Kathy Brennan McEntee, Jeff Tittel, Keith Harmis, Doug McCloud, Frank Fortunato, Will Hammerstein, Chris Herncane, and others started an online petition, built a website, and quickly raised over $5,000. They also designed, printed, and distributed signs that read, “BIG HOTEL! BIG MISTAKE!” The signs were displayed by residents and businesses all over town.
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
The Revolution Woodfire Grille is located in the middle of a neighborhood. The wood fence surrounding the restaurant has residential yards on the other side.
Jane Burroughs is one of the people who lives next door. When the restaurant seats patrons on the elevated deck next to her property, she can hear almost everything the customers say—and every song they drunkenly sing.
Smoke from the grill comes into her home through her windows and HVAC system, and it often fills her backyard, making it unpleasant to be outside.
The smell can be so strong that it lingers in the neighborhood, even when the grill is not in operation. Depending on the weather or the direction of the wind, the smoke can hang low and still, or it can crinkle noses more than a block away.
Jane was the neighbor who spoke with Ron Gorodesky at the end of the developer presentation on May 8th. She said the smell of Mesquite was in her house “eight to ten hours per day.” Ron told her they were looking for a new wood supplier. At that point the restaurant had been in operation for six months.
Signs of Stress
When S.O.U.L. created and distributed their protest signs, Jane displayed one in front of her house, and attached one to her fence at the end of her back yard.
On July 20, 2025, Jane posted on the Lambertville Facebook group:
“The sign was up for about an hour before the chef of the revolution grille decided to rip it down and throw it in the garbage. He told me I was f'ing with his livelihood and that they were doubling the size of the restaurants and hotels, and taking away the parking driveway to the left of Finkel's. I called the police and will be filing a formal complaint. Meanwhile, after almost 8 months, no remediation has been done to Jim Hamilton's old woodburning grill. All the neighbors continue to battle the smoke on a daily basis. This is the character and caliber of the people we are dealing with.”
She also posted the following images:
Jane’s sign faced the small parking area behind the former Strand Theater, which is where some Revolution Woodfire Grille and Boat House employees park. The sign could be seen from the sidewalk on Coryell Street, but not easily.
Justin Joyce commented:
“As an employee I want to take a moment to address the concerns raised and clarify a few important points. First and foremost, our employees are dedicated to their jobs and their livelihoods, and it is unfair that they have been subjected to harassment over matters that should be addressed directly with the property owners or the Borough of Lambertville. The signs in question were placed on restaurant property, including fencing adjacent to our outdoor seating area, which interferes not only with our business operations but also with the experience of our guests.
“Regarding the wood-burning concerns, our team has made every good-faith effort to remediate the issue. We have changed the type of wood used and even ceased using the wood-fired oven entirely in an effort to be good neighbors. These adjustments were made despite the fact that the restaurant has operated for decades as a staple of this community, offering the same style of wood-fired dining without issue in the past.
“It's important to understand that while some may have concerns about future development in the area, those concerns should be directed to the city and property owners-not to the staff and customers who depend on this restaurant for their livelihood. This ongoing targeting of our employees feels less like a constructive discussion about community growth and more like an attack on the restaurant itself.
“The restaurant is committed to being respectful neighbors and to working with neighbors to address any legitimate concerns. We simply ask for the same respect in return.”
Chris Thomas also commented:
“We have made every reasonable effort to address your concerns. However, many of the issues you've raised are outside of our control as employees. Despite this, your continued behavior — including raising your voice in front of guests, making personal accusations, and confronting staff — has created a hostile and disruptive environment.
“Your actions, particularly your visit yesterday in which you came to the restaurant asking for me by name, have become increasingly aggressive and inappropriate. This ongoing harassment toward me and other team members is unacceptable and must stop immediately.
“We are requesting that you no longer contact or approach us moving forward.”
Geraldine Fallon commented:
“As a recent customer to that restaurant, I was overwhelmed with smoke inhalation while eating. Until they remediate it I will not return.”
There were many other comments on the thread, each containing the typical snipe and gripe of a flame war. Then the post disappeared from Facebook.
Change of Plans
On August 21, 2025, Refined Hospitality announced on their website that the developers, John Connors and Ron Gorodesky, were going in a new direction.
They cited a lack of community engagement as their reason for switching plans.
“Throughout the planning process we made a concerted effort to engage with the community transparently and in good faith. Sadly, the engagement we sought never materialized,” they wrote. “After dutiful consideration we have made the decision to not move forward on our hotel plans for Coryell Street.”
Here is a summary of their new plan:
Former Strand Theater: they are planning a certified historic rehabilitation of the space “intended to host performances, films, movies, meetings, parties, and community events.”
Former lighting store: they plan to add retail spaces facing the alley heading back to the Boat House, “creating an intimate retail enclave, aimed at attracting area makers, creators, and entrepreneurs.” The second floor of the building will become an apartment.
Former hardware store: this “will remain as-is and new tenants will be sought” for the space.
Former warehouse lot: this site is to become “a fully code compliant surface parking lot” with accessory and public parking.
Although they didn’t mention The Boat House or Revolution Woodfire Grille, those businesses are expected to remain in operation, likely with some changes.
Several residents posted on Facebook to celebrate the news, and many people (local & not) expressed happiness, relief, and joy. Some folks were hesitant to get too excited, because they worried that the developers could not be trusted.
The Reality
Local opposition may be the sole reason the developers gave up on their large-scale hotel campus project, but more than likely it all came down to reality.
“We listened to you and we’re going to do you what you want,” is good PR.
However, it could be that their traffic study concluded that Coryell Street and Lambert Lane were not able to handle the 50+ cars per hour peak flow that they expected and needed to make their hotel and wedding venue business viable.
There are only two ways to get to the properties, and neither route can handle huge amounts of traffic (see the white line in the first image of this blog post).
In his presentation, John Connors said the parking garage was the “special sauce” that made it all work. With regulatory and historic hurdles, it’s possible that building a two-tiered parking garage with an underground lower level—in a flood zone directly next to a historic canal—turned out to be prohibitive.
Maybe it’s that John Connors and Brickstone are also developing a $70 million, 30-acre woodland retreat in Cape May County called Claremont Lodge.
Whatever the motivation, let’s cautiously take the developers at their word and go with “lack of engagement” as the reason they changed plans. If engaging opens the possibility that they’ll develop something beneficial for everybody, then let’s engage.
A New Hope
Dear John Connors and Ron Gorodesky:
Please don’t build a paved parking lot with digital gates, security cameras, and ‘no trespassing’ signs. Instead, make it a water-absorbing pea gravel lot with limited spaces and use the existing structure as a passive, power-generating solar shell that can house a weekly Lambertville Farmer’s Market.
Please don’t let the shops in the Boat House alley end up being luxurious high-end spa businesses that are secretly owned by a single parent company. Make the spaces raw garage-sized studios with affordable monthly rents for the “area makers, creators, and entrepreneurs.” Think ‘Cherry Street Pier’ in Lambertville.
Please don’t design The Strand Theater as a “you can do artsy things here if you can afford it” ballroom that ends up only being used for catered weddings and celebrations with 100+ guests. A state-of-the-art venue for talks, art, music, conferences, comedy, and tiny touring acts was already widely supported here.
People enjoy walking through a variety of small, interesting businesses. As long it doesn’t go bigger, dirtier, louder, or later, the former hardware shop could become an Apple Store or a locally-kiosked, Ferry Market styled food court with outdoor seating that looks over at the new luxury townhomes across the canal.
If the west end of Coryell Street becomes a small-business-focused promenade, it could improve consumer foot traffic for all of Lambertville. That, in turn, will bring community engagemet. It’s all possible, and it could be good.